An ass's hoof alone can hold That poisonous juice which kills by cold. Methought, when I this poem read, No vessel but an ass's head, Such frigid fustian could contain; I mean the head without the brain. The cold conceits, the chilling thoughts, Went down like stupefying draughts: I found my head began to swim, A numbness crept through every limb: In haste, with imprecations dire, I threw the volume in the fire: When, who could think, though cold as ice, It burnt to ashes in a trice. How could I more enhance its fame? Though born in snow, it died in flame. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES ON OBSERVING A BLOSSOM [ON THE FIRST OF FEBRUARY 1796] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE HARRIET BEECHER STOWE by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR H. BAPTISME (2) by GEORGE HERBERT THOUGHTS WHILE PACKING A TRUNK by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 93 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI NOCTURNE IN A DESERTED BRICKYARD by CARL SANDBURG |